We've Seen 7 Minutes of Star Wars Battlefront Gameplay

After making do with concept art and snippets of 'in-engine' gameplay for the last couple of years, we've finally seen what DICE has done with Star Wars Battlefront. And based on seven minutes of PS4 gameplay, it's clear what the mission has been: make the most faithful video game adaptation of the original trilogy to date.

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The demo begins on the forest moon of Endor with a group of rebels running through the forest. Three speeder bikes carrying Stormtroopers screech across the screen, and a firefight ensues with more Stormtroopers arriving. Soon this skirmish is interrupted by a gigantic AT-AT stomping through an opening in the forest. Regular firepower is completely ineffectual, even picking up a powerful weapon pick like a missile launcher is no use against the walker's thick armour. The rebels reach a communications terminal and call in an airstrike from a nearby base. Within seconds, Y-Wings fly just above the forest's canopy dropping bombs, destroying the AT-AT. (The footage switches between first- and third-person perspectives, emphasising how Battlefront can be from either view.) The rebels run under the wounded AT-AT as it burns, emphasising its impressive size, and leave the open forest for the safety of a bunker. Inside, one of the rebels runs ahead, but is stopped and scooped into the air by an invisible force; he reaches for his throat; he's choking. Lord Vader comes into shot, throws the rebel to one side, and marches directly towards the camera; shots are fired in his direction but he deflects each one effortlessly with his lightsaber. Vader continues to walk forward until his mask dominates the screen. (It's worth pointing out that while this sounds similar to the footage featured in the debut trailer; it wasn't as tightly orchestrated as that footage and IGN was told it captured from a build running on PlayStation 4.)

It's trite to say those seven minutes really feel like Star Wars. Of course they do. By putting all those iconic vehicles, weapons, and characters together, how could they not?

But it's clear more is going on to invoke the original trilogy through man small and slight touches. When blasters are fired and hit their mark, there's small eruption of sparks which fizz through the air and puff of smoke. It doesn't look like a typical video game effect, since it's been designed to look like a practical effect, like those used on set in the original movies. And that reverse for the source material – incidentally, and perhaps tellingly, when Battlefront comes out there will be no content drawn from the Prequel trilogy whatsoever – has informed a lot of the technology used in production.

DICE is a well-funded, successful studio with plenty of talented artists on staff who are more than capable of producing near-photorealistic Stormtroopers or X-Wings, but it's chosen to use extensive photogrammetry, a technique which composites high-resolution scans of real-world objects to create digital assets. DICE has used this process to create digital impressions of several key props and models used in the original films. It means that not only are the proportions of such objects precise and authentic, but every scratch and blemish of the original object is also translated into the game. What is means is that the X-Wings available in the game are, essentially, the X-Wings from the original movie. Similarly, a comparable process – PBR (physically-based rendering) – was used to make sure the environments display a comparable level of fidelity, with DICE travelling to and scanning many of the key shooting locations used in the original trilogy. It's a fanatical quest for detail that I suspect most people won't consciously notice, though it's one of the silent factors in making this feel so much like Star Wars.

Battlefront isn't simply aiming to recreate the past, however, but play with those iconic locations, characters, and vehicles to stage new epic battles which play into the fantasies of fans. There are specific rules that can't be breach, of course, but DICE has been granted enough lateral movement to produce some awesome and unexpected scenarios – Boba Fett tearing it up on Hoth, anyone?

These big moments – the appearance of iconic characters – are being referred to as 'hero' or 'villain' moments. The mechanic behind activating it hasn't been made clear, but some sort of unlock in the game will allow you to spawn in the map as either a hero or a villain (Vader and Boba Fett both appearing in the trailer). You'll have a unique set of abilities and the power to transform the dynamic of the match in an immediate and powerful way. DICE General Manager Patrick Bach describes as becoming "the boss of the battle. You want to be the first thing everyone wants to take down, because you're super powerful. If someone spawns on the other side as a hero, there will be a clash of giants, of sorts." He wouldn't be drawn on who that hero might be, but surely Luke Skywalker or Yoda aren't beyond the realms of possibility.

The footage shown at Celebration showcases Walker Assault, one of the game's biggest modes – it's been confirmed that matches will support up to 40 players. It's the first thing we've seen because it shows Battlefront at its most impressive and epic. Large numbers of infantry are taking on a variety of vehicles, and there are plenty of vehicles at the players disposal; producer Ray MacLeod confirmed that "TIE Fighters, X-Wings, AT-ATs, AT-STs, snow speeders, speederbikes, and of course, the Millennium Falcon" will all be playable. It's worth pointing out though that aerial combat will be limited to in-atmosphere dog fights, with space for off limits right now. Bach explains why: "The core of Star Wars battles — the Endors, the Hoths, et cetera — you want to take that to perfection. You want to do it right. Space is hard, right? Not from a [development] perspective, but from a logistical perspective. Is that fun? For us it doesn’t make sense to create a battle above you if you’re fighting other players who are not there to fight. Our focus is to do planetary battles. "

Even though the announcement focusses principally on what will no doubt be the core of Battlefront – those epic fantasy battles – some details were also released about Special Missions, which are single-player or co-op (local or online) scenarios and kind of fill the space of a traditional campaign mode. Unfortunately no specifics examples were given, but they sound a bit like Spec Op missions from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 3, which were built around small, distinct tasks, with ties to the original films in mind.

Battlefront wants to recapture the essence of the original films but it's worth stressing that it's not simply exercise in nostalgia; it's also helping to shape and define the future of this new Star Wars universe. Battlefront is the first of EA's ten-year partnership with Lucasfilm, and it doesn't appear to just be a tie-in. There are four locations in the game at launch: Tatooine, Hoth, Endor, and Sullust, the last of which has barely been seen before, and DICE is working with Lucasfilm to define the canonical look of this planet. "You saw the Sullust scene in the trailer," Bach tells me. "That kind of doesn’t exist for Lucasfilm. But where we know that’s the planet where you build the evil gear. That’s where the Empire builds AT-ATs. That’s f***ing awesome. So, what does that look like? We pitched a concept of what it would look like. And we agreed. Yes, this is right, that’s wrong, more this, less that. Done."

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Furthermore, those ties with what's happening in the cinematic section of this universe, is underlined by the Battle of Jakku expansion – a free download for everyone who buys the game – which focusses on a battle shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi. As revealed in The Force Awakens panel at Star Wars Celebration, Jakku is a key location in that movie, and it appears like Battlefront's free expansion will be the best way of finding out why there's a huge Star Destroyer buried out in its desert. Who knows? It might even give us the opportunity to put it there.

A lot of games based on well-known properties boast about how they've had access to production materials and how they're aiming for total authenticity; Battlefront is one of those games where you actually feel like it's not marketing but core to what's being made. The original trilogy is informing everything new about the Star Wars universe – J.J. Abrams stresses the importance of practical effects and shooting on location, as Dave Filoni's team on Rebels devises digital brushes to recreate the brushstrokes of Ralph McQuarrie, and now Battlefront is moving this universe forward again but to do so it's looking back and appreciating the past.

Daniel is IGN's Games Editor over in London. He writes about movies, too. You can be part of the world's most embarrassing cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.